The Sesame Street Episode Your Kids Will Never See

We all grew up with Sesame Street, and as a Mom of two former pre-schoolers (who are now "too old" for that stuff but I still catch them watching it sometimes…), I have to say that Sesame Street was the best of the best. I could easily watch it right alongside the kids, laughing as hard as they did and sometimes harder.

One of the truths about TV is that sometimes, ideas are pitched, scripts are written and shows are filmed that you will never see, for one reason or another. Sometimes it's the money, sometimes it's a censorship issue, and sometimes, the episode wasn't well received by a "test audience".

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This is exactly what happened in 1992, when Sesame Street tested an episode titled "Snuffy's Parents Get A Divorce". In the episode, Snuffy and his little sister have to deal with the heartache of their parent's divorce, and the focus group of kids they tested the episode on were deeply affected. In one scene, Snuffy's little sister hears her parents arguing in the next cave, and kicks and pounds her teddy bear in frustration. The test group responded badly, according to the feedback:

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"The kids came away with negative messages… The kids said she stabbed the teddy bear with a knife. The kids misunderstood arguments. They said arguments did mean divorce. Some thought Snuffy's parents were moving away even though we said just the opposite. A number said the parents would no longer be in love with them."

There were also comments made about Snuffy's Dad leaving the family and never coming back (even though the episode detailed him visiting on weekends) – how's that for heartbreaking? After such a poor reception, the producers and writers realized there was just no comforting or friendly way to present this episode. It was just too painful all around, so it was canned and will most likely never be aired.

Sesame Street did later address divorce a bit more lightly in the song "They Live in Different Places, But They Both Love Me", featuring birds whose parents live in different trees. It's good to hear they put a more uplifting spin on it, but I don't think I'll ever look at Snuffleupagus in the same way again. No wonder he has such sad eyes.

I can't imagine young kids would ever be able to watch that episode. What do you think?